Hi! I understand your dilemna! I was vegetarian for about 15 years. (went back to meat for last 3 years due to some health issues). I'm gradually reducing my meat intake,and increasing fruit and veggies. My best suggestion would be to go to one of the vegetarian websites: they even have menues. AS I move back to being vegetarian, I'm going to be soliciting lots of help from the vegetarian community so I don't end up severely vitamin B deficient. Good luck on your journey. Bright Blessings! Sage

Does anyone have any tips for helping to keep a vegitarian diet in check and well balanced?

2x4

I've benn vegetarian since 1992. At first my diet was a disaster - eating the fries without the hamburgers. It's been pretty good lately though - the one tip that I think is really helpful is eating 'high volume low calorie' foods. I eat tons of fresh fruit - the water content fills you up, so you don't feel like you're missing anything. You feel full based on the volume in your stomach, not the calories. So dried fruit - not so good, it's very condensed and often has added sugar. If you eat a handful or two of raisins it doesn't fill you up nearly as much as that number of grapes.

The same thing with starches - you can eat a larger volume of bread than you can of pasta for the same calories. And dry starches like pretzels or chips are the worst, very low volume in the stomach for the number of calories. I like to start a meal with fruit or a salad, that helps fill me up before I start on the main part of the meal so I don't eat as much.

FINALLY!I've felt so alone all these years. I'm vegetarian and a carboholic. I've started yet another diet this week, hoping to loose 50+lbs gained this year. I been a vegetarian 20+ years, and weigh more now& fatter than Ive ever been in my life. Could really use a buddy who knows what its like

Hi alfresco! WELCOME to the FoodFit community!! Feel free to post as much as you like!

I am "almost" vegitarian. I do not eat the flesh of warm blooded animals and I eat dairy.

A good place to start is to cut WAY WAY WAY back on WHITE foods. Most all those foods are empty carbs: white rice, breads, pasta, noodles, sugar, white flour, etc. Replace all those foods with the better choice:brown ricewhole wheat breadbuckwheat noodles, artichoke pasta, etc.honeywhole wheat flour

stuff like that. Also make sure you are getting enough proteins. I do not believe the whole "you must eat meat for a balanced diet" thingy, but I have learned that PROTEIN is a very important element to focus on. All the rest falls into place: fresh veggies and fruits, carbs and fats.

Brien thank you - that is excellent advice and I've been follwing it with mixed-but-mostly positive results. it doesn't seem to help my late evening feeding frenzy issue - I can eat until it hurts and still be craving food. how crazy is that?

I think you have heard this from everyone who replied, but, I am so glad to hear I am not alone. I am 31 years old. I stopped eating different meats throughout my life beginning in elementary school. I grew up on a farm, and our meat came from our pets. Every time I tried to eat it, all I could think about was a dead pig hanging at the butchers. So, I have been vegitarian most of my life. No chicken, or fish. Nothing. All I eat is bread, pasta, and starches! I don't think that my body gets any protien at all. Whenever I try the famous weight loss diets, they always call for some sort of meat. When I tell them that I don't eat meat, they offer fish. And, lets face it. We have all seen the look that us overweight vegitarians get when people hear you say that you are a vegitarian. They're like, "Yeah, right". It was good to hear all of your stories, thank you. - Cammie

hey, i found that in order to help me maintain or lose weight was to skip on some of the carbs, and to remember carbs are not just bread and pasta, and to include protein. BEANS, not just good for your heart, good for your waistline too. (plus, a good source of fibre)NUTS, yummy, salty, proteiny goodness (but eat by the handful not the bagful due to fatty goodness too), egg substitute, or eggs...or cheese...or tofu....all things to add to our meals to reduce the carbs and reduce the size of our butts

I know the issue of too many carbs as I have been veg for over 12 years. That is the reason I am on a weight loss journey to release 187 pounds of unhealthy fat with 27 gone already. Barry Sears, author of The Zone, has a veg version called The Soy Zone. This provides a life style of eating (not a diet) which helps to properly balance carbs, proteins and fats at every meal to optimize health and lose weight. There is a simple formula to follow which I have found to be great.

Hey. I am new to this. I am a vegitarian. I am way over weight. I am sick of people looking at me and saying if you are a vegt. then why are you over weight. I need so help, support. to lose this weight. My older brother has cancer and I am so depressed from it all. IF any one could give me tips I would greatly apprecate it.

I've been eating according to a book I found called "Thrive" and I've lost a lb a day since I started it. Today is 15 lbs. I feel fantastic! the bags under my eyes are going away. my skin is glowing, by nails are growing. In the book Brenden Brazier, explains about the PH of our blood. It's pretty amazing and eye opening. Such as cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment. Almost everything in the SAD Diet is acid. This knowledge has helped me control what I put in my mouth. I don't want to poison myself so I make better choices. And the results have been amazing. You can see Brenden explain all of this on G Living.com. It's pretty cool stuff. And if you want to really learn then YouTube David Wolf he's amazing.